Central Asians in the United States

Central Asians in the United States are Americans with ancestry from Central Asia. They include Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek individuals. People of Afghan, Baloch, and Uyghur descent are also sometimes classified as Central Asians. Central Asians in the United States are classified as white similarly to Middle Eastern Americans and North African Americans by the United States Census, rather than as Asian Americans.

Central Asian Americans
Total population
Total: ~100,000
62,713 (Uzbek),[1] 24,636 (Kazakh)[1]
Regions with significant populations
New York City · New Jersey · Philadelphia · San Antonio · Houston · San Francisco · San Jose · Los Angeles · Washington, D.C. · Nebraska · Chicago · Northern Virginia
Languages
American English · Balochi · Dari · Kazakh · Kyrgyz · Pashto · Russian · Tajik · Turkmen · Uyghur · Uzbek
Religion
Islam · Eastern Orthodoxy · Judaism
Related ethnic groups
Central Asians in the United Kingdom
Ken Alibek a Kazakh American

Kazakh Americans
Main article: Kazakh Americans

Kyrgyz Americans
Main article: Kyrgyz people

The Kyrgyz population in the United States are one of the newer and smaller immigrant groups from Central Asia living in the United States. Kyrgyz Americans began to arrive in the United States after 1991, with the opening of the green card lottery.[2]

Tajik Americans
Main article: Tajikistani Americans

Turkmen Americans
See also: Turkmens

Uzbek Americans
Tandoori Food and Bakery, a kosher Bukharan Jewish Uzbek restaurant in Rego Park, Queens, June 2018
Main article: Uzbek Americans

Uzbek Americans are the largest Central Asian population in the United States. 62,713 Uzbeks live in the US,[1] with the largest community existing in the New York City metropolitan area. The New York area Uzbek community is diverse and has 3 main sub-communities: Uzbek Muslims who first came to the United States in the 1980s as political refugees from the Soviet Union living in Morris County, New Jersey, many of whom are staunchly anti-communist and upwardly mobile; newer Uzbek Muslim immigrants to New York City who have benefitted from the green card lottery, 20,000 of whom have settled in Brooklyn since the 2000s; and the Bukharan Jews who mostly live in Queens, many of whom have done well in real estate and the Diamond District.[3]

Bukharan Jews
See also: Bukharan Jews

The United States has the largest community of Bukharan Jews in the world outside of Israel. 70,000 Bukharian Jews reside in the United States, with 50,000 living in the New York City borough of Queens alone. The Bukharan Jews are concentrated in the neighborhoods of Rego Park, Queens and Forest Hills.[4][5]

Afghan Americans
Hazrati Abu Bakr Siddique, a mosque in Queens founded by Afghan, Turkistani, and Uzbek immigrants from Afghanistan, April 2009
Main article: Afghan Americans
See also: Pashtun Americans

Baloch Americans
Main article: Baloch Americans

Uyghur Americans
Main article: Uyghur Americans

The Uyghur American population is small, but growing. Northern Virginia has one of the largest Uyghur populations in the United States.[6] Around 1,500 Uyghurs live in the Washington metropolitan area, with the majority living in Fairfax County, Virginia.[7] A small but notable community of around 150 Uyghurs live in the Boston area.[8]

References
  1. "PLACE OF BIRTH FOR THE FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES, Universe: Foreign-born population excluding population born at sea, 2014 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 14 February 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  2. "CENTRAL ASIAN DIASPORA IN THE USA: THE CASE OF KYRGYZ AMERICANS". Columbia University. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  3. "ISIS at the Gyro King". New York Magazine. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  4. "Now Americans, Bukharian Jews face new set of challenges". Times of Israel. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  5. "In Bukhara, 10,000 Jewish Graves but Just 150 Jews". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  6. "Uyghurs in America Aim To Keep Language Alive". Voice of America. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  7. "'We're A People That Are Grieving': Local Uighurs Have Escaped China, But Still Fear Repression". DCist. Archived from the original on 2019-06-16. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
  8. "Local Uyghur Restaurant Owner Speaks Out: 'I Should Fight For My Father'". WGBH (FM). Retrieved 2019-06-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.